Ypsilanti middle school coach fired after choking 14 year old student, Michael Moon from behind after following boy down a hallway after teen refused to do push-ups as part of disciplinary measures for ‘goofing off.’
A Michigan middle school coach has been fired after surveillance video captured the educator choking a 14 year old after the boy moments earlier refused to do push ups.
Footage from Ypsilanti Middle School shows the unidentified coach stalking Michael Moon, 14, as he walked down a hallway last week and wrapping a shirt around his hands and wrists as he approached the teen.
The coach then proceeds to wrap the shirt around the boy’s throat, forcing the victim to double over and lose color in his face as he struggled to rip the shirt from his neck.
‘Horsing around…’
After about 20 seconds, the teenager manages to get free and pushes the coach away as other teachers could be seen approaching.
Moon’s family say the teen suffered injuries to his neck as a result of the attack and has since refused to return to school, ABC 7 reported.
The incident reportedly began following an argument between the teenager and the coach on June 4.
Michael told his parents the coach – who also served as a hall monitor at the school – saw him ‘horsing around’ in the hallway and ordered him to do push-ups, they told ABC 7.
But Michael had a hand injury and tried to explain to the coach that he could not do the demanded disciplinary measure. The teen was then seen on surveillance footage walking past the coach, who was sitting in a chair.
After about 10 seconds, the coach got up – apparently signaling to another teacher that he would be right back – as he started to follow Moon down the hallway.
Parents plan to file lawsuit against school district
Moon would later file a police report against the coach, and the local police department provided his parents with a copy of the video.
Both Moon’s parents, Steve Moon and Yolanda Ellis, said they were shocked and angered by what they saw on the footage.
‘I’m outraged at the fact that someone would come behind a 14-year-old child and proceed to choke him,’ Ellis told Fox 2 Detroit.
They now hope the coach faces charges for the assault, and argue that other teachers who were nearby should also be penalized for failing to intervene in a timely manner.
‘It made me lose trust in the school system,’ Ellis, told ABC 7.
‘It also made me lose trust in the coach because he was someone that Michael looked up to.’
Since the attack, the teen has refused to return to school – and nobody from the middle school or from the Ypsilanti Community Schools has reached out to check on him the parents claim.
‘We just recently got Mike where he has been social and working on his people skills,’ Ellis told FOX2.
‘Since the incident, he has not been outside,’ Ellis said. ‘He didn’t want to go back and finish his school days.’
An attorney representing the family now plans to send the school district a notice of litigation for school officials’ failure to intervene in the assault.
‘In that video, there should have been other people rushing in and stopping the assault,’ attorney Jordan Vahdat told Fox 2. ‘I didn’t see that happen.’
He said he will also conduct his own investigation into the incident as well as any previous issues the coach may have had with other students that district officials should have been aware of.
But first, he said, he would like to sit down with district officials to discuss the incident.
‘Number one is accountability, the school needs to do something to make it right.
‘Now they’ve inflicted trauma and if it’s something he’s going to have to work through… he should be looking forward to the summer.’
It is now unclear whether Moon will be returning to the middle school next year.
‘The thing I want to do is to make sure Mike is safe, first of all, when he returns back to school,’ Ellis said.
‘Also, get him the help that he needs.’
In a statement to ABC 7, Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross said the coach has been fired from his position at the school ‘and is not permitted to enter school property or attend school activities.’
‘Our district is dedicated to creating a safe and supportive environment for all students,’ she said.
‘The actions of the employee are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our district.’
School officials also sent a letter to parents on Monday, addressing a ‘serious incident’ involving an employee.
The letter does not mention any assault or the nature of the incident, but said district officials ‘immediately’ contacted social services and began cooperating with a police investigation.
‘We are committed to fully cooperating with the involved authorities,’ the letter read.
‘Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation and the involvement of a student, we are unable to provide specific details.’
The coach to date has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
